When you’re extracting a menstrual period, you will see that the material coming down the tube is solid red, and it comes very slowly. The material comes down at a slow but even rate for 10 to 20 minutes, even more sometimes. Sometimes the cannula gets stopped up with a clot; the cannula is taken out, rinsed out and then reinserted. Usually, the woman is the one to decide when she’s “done”. Apparently, all the menstrual blood has been formed by the time it starts to come out, because sometimes the woman doesn’t get another drop. On the other hand, and this has been my experience, there’s more there and I continued to need a tampon or a napkin for the next day or two, but it’s just the remnants apparently.
When you’re dealing with a pregnancy, the experience is quite different. The material coming down the tube will not be solid red; it will be an inch or so of clear fluid, then some whitish clumps for an inch or so and then maybe some red material. Also, it comes out much faster than menstrual blood and is not sticky like menstrual blood. When you start the procedure, you can move the cannula back and forth within the uterus easily and the uterine wall may feel slick. Then, as the uterus is emptied, it starts contracting and it gets difficult to push the cannula back and forth. The uterus starts clamping down on the cannula. It begins to get rough, you may feel the inside walls of the uterus. Then, the cervical canal closes around the cannula and it becomes difficult to pull back on the cannula. This usually means that the uterus is empty.